Henderson birdie blitz gives her two-shot lead in Portland

(Reuters) - Brooke Henderson began the defense of her Portland Classic title with a seven-under-par 65 on Thursday, which gave her a two-stroke lead after the first round.

Henderson won her first LPGA title by eight strokes at Columbia Edgewater Country Club last year.

She called on those memories in an opening round that included nine birdies and gave her a cushion over Angela Stanford, Demi Runas and Colombia's Mariajo Uribe who are all at five-under-par.

"Just walking around I remember some of the shots I hit. Some of the pin placements are kind of similar, so trying to think back to what the putts did and how they broke," Henderson told reporters. "Yeah, a lot of great memories."